Paris, Aug 1 (IANS) China’s Wang Chuqin, top-seeded in the men’s singles table tennis at the 2024 Olympic Games, failed to reach the Round of 16 following a surprising 2-4 defeat to Truls Moregard of Sweden on Wednesday.

Wang, a 24-year-old Olympic debutant who took gold in the mixed doubles on Tuesday with his partner Sun Yingsha, was denied the chance to advance further after just two matches in the men’s singles event, losing 10-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and 6-11 to the 22-year-old Swede at the South Paris Arena 4.

“I definitely felt very down coming off the court. I had such a high yesterday from winning the mixed doubles gold. To go from that to this low, I guess this is what competitive sport is about,” said Wang after the match.

Wang’s bat was accidentally broken on Tuesday after the mixed doubles final match, so he had to play with his backup bat. However, he did not believe that using the backup bat was the main reason for his loss, reports Xinhua.

“It’s because I wasn’t good enough today. My opponent had some changes in his serves and I didn’t respond to them well enough. It’s got nothing to do with the bat. I’ll reflect on this loss, and come back strong for the team event,” said Wang.

Moregard, also an Olympic newcomer who won the silver medal in the men’s singles at the 2021 World Championships in Houston in the United States, felt “super happy” for his victory over the top seed.

“I stuck to my plan that I had, and I really believed in it. I continued even if I lost two sets in the middle. I played fantastic table tennis and it was really, really good,” he said.

Jorgen Persson, Sweden’s head coach, emphasized the importance of belief when playing against China. “Belief plays a big part when you see how much they’re winning. It’s important that you always believe it’s possible. That’s what I’m trying to convey to my players.”

“It’s possible to beat them, but you have to play at your 110 percent,” he added.

Moregard will next play 19-year-old Kao Cheng-Jui of Chinese Taipei later on Wednesday for a spot in the quarterfinals.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Whether to have a mega auction for ahead of the upcoming season was the major point of contention in the meeting between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the 10 franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The meeting of the IPL teams’ owners with the BCCI at the latter’s headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday night was inconclusive and with no consensus emerging on the matter.

A report in Cricbuzz claimed quite a few people are against holding mega auctions, including Kolkata Knight Riders’ owner, actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan, who was fiercely in favour of not holding one. This development was confirmed by Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal to reporters in Mumbai, who added that the house is also divided on the Impact Player rule.

“A consensus on the mega auction – whether to have it or not – will eventually determine the number of retentions. If the BCCI decides to do away with the mega auctions, there may not be a requirement for retentions at all,” the report further said.

The other point of discussion was the number of retentions and there was no consensus amongst ten owners on this issue also.

“At one stage, the KKR owner was also believed to be engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, the co-owner of Punjab Kings, over a number of retentions; Shah Rukh was in favour of major retentions while Wadia is believed to be against too many of them,” added the report.

Asked about his opinion over the Impact Player rule, which received a lot of flak from players and coaches in IPL 2024, Jindal told reporters in Mumbai that though the ruling gives chances to a lot of new players, he is not in favour of it as it hinders the growth of genuine all-rounders in Indian cricket.

Other IPL owners who arrived in Mumbai for the meeting include Kiran Kumar Grandhi, co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad).

Rajasthan Royals had co-owner Manoj Badale, CEO Jake Luck McCrum and Executive Chairman Ranjit Barthakur in attendance, so as Amit Soni (Gujarat Titans) and Prathmesh Mishra (Royal Challengers Bengaluru). A few owners attended the meeting via video conferencing, which included the Ambani family of Mumbai Indians.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said it will take forward the recommendations of all ten IPL franchise owners to the tournament’s governing council before finalising player regulations ahead of the IPL 2025 season. The BCCI had called for a meeting with all ten franchise owners at its headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, where thoughts related to mega auctions, player retention and impact player rule among other issues were discussed.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday organized a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises on various subjects pertaining to the upcoming season of the TATA IPL.”

“The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming. The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations,” said BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.

Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal told reporters in Mumbai that there was a big debate over whether a mega auction should be held, where the franchise is in favour of having one. He added that the house is also divided on continuing with the Impact Player rule, which the franchise is against it, citing it hindering the growth of genuine all-rounders in Indian cricket.

Jindal also said the BCCI will get back to all team owners’ by August over IPL 2025 rules around mega auction, retentions and everything related to it. Other IPL owners who arrived in Mumbai for the meeting include Kiran Kumar Grandhi, co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Ness Wadia (Punjab Kings).

Rajasthan Royals had co-owner Manoj Badale, CEO Jake Luck McCrum and Executive Chairman Ranjit Barthakur in attendance, while Amit Soni (Gujarat Titans) and Prathmesh Mishra (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) also attended the meeting. A few owners attended the meeting via video conferencing, which included the Ambani family of Mumbai Indians.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Former India cricketer and coach Anshuman Gaekwad passed away at the age of 71 on Wednesday night after losing a battle with blood cancer. Gaekwad played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India from 1975 to 1987, apart from playing 206 first-class games for Baroda.

Snehal Parikh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Baroda Cricket Association (BCA), told IANS that Gaekwad passed away at around 10 pm. Gaekwad travelled to King’s College Hospital in London for his blood cancer treatment and returned to his hometown Baroda in June to continue his treatment at a local hospital.

As a batter, Gaekwad amassed 1985 runs in the longer format, and his highest score was 201 against Pakistan. He also made 269 runs in the 50-over format. Gaekwad had a fruitful partnership with batting legend Sunil Gavaskar in Tests and had a long tenure as his opening partner.

Later, after working as a selector, Gaekwad served as India’s head coach from October 1997 to September 1999.

Under his tenure, leg-spinner Anil Kumble took all ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan at New Delhi in 1999.

Gaekwad was honoured with CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017-18 and also served as a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) alongside Kapil Dev and Shantha Rangaswamy.

Gaekwad was President of the Indian Cricketers Association (ICA) till his demise and even represented the body in the BCCI Apex Council from 2019-2022. Earlier this year in February, his father Datta Gaekwad, who played 11 Tests for India, passed away in Baroda.

–IANS

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Paris, July 31 (IANS) China continued to ride their good showing in the pool and shooting range and picked gold in table tennis as it climbed to the top of the medals tally on the fifth day of competitions at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday. Going into the evening’s schedule on Wednesday, China had 8 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze for a total of 16 medals.

Australia is placed second with 7 gold, four silver and three bronze for a total of 14, while Japan slipped to third position with 14 medals, seven of them gold.

Hosts France continued to rise, picking up medals in women’s Triathlon and Rugby sevens with those in swimming, Equestrian and Fencing for a total of 22.

With two medals — bronze that came via Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, India slipped to 38th position in the table.

MEDAL TALLY

Top 5 and India:

Nation G S B T

1) China 8 6 2 16

2) Australia 7 4 3 14

3) Japan 7 3 4 14

4) France 6 9 7 22

5) Great Britain 6 6 5 17

38) India 0 0 2 2

–IANS

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